Ring Side Report- RPG review of ALIEN RPG Colonial Marines Operations Manual

Originally posted at www.throatpunchgames.com, a new idea every day!

Product- ALIEN RPG Colonial Marines Operations Manual System- Alien RPG Producer- Free League Publishing Price- $11.99 here https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/356935/alien-rpg-colonial-marines-operations-manual?affiliate_id=658618
TL; DR-A few issues don’t keep this from being a fun book. 93%

Basics- Game over man, GAME OVER! Colonial Marines Operation Manual expands on the world of Aliens, focusing on the military men and women who will defend the frontier from both men and monsters. This book features a few new careers, talents, and items for the players and for the GM it has a TON of story and a whole campaign.

Mechanics or Crunch- This is a classic example of what’s here is good, but there needs to be more. There are a TON of ships and tanks, so if you wanted to have more of that in the game, you are going to love this. But there is not much new for characters to directly build themselves. What’s here is good however. The new military careers are fantastic and will make your character feel more like they are more than just generic soldiers. I would just like more player specific options. For the GM, there is an impressive amount here to throw around with a guide on how to make a military campaign and a full military campaign in the book! 4.5/5

Theme or Fluff- Want to learn over 200 years of history and culture in a book? This is that book! This book goes deep into the lore of the universe, and it’s well done. You get small glimpses into individual soldiers' lives and an overview of nearly two centuries of corporate intrigue and international and planetary politics. This doesn't even cover all the multitude of new aliens added to the lore or added to this game. This is a solid story hit. 5/5

Execution- I like what’s here, but don’t completely love it. The layout is ok, but it's lots of green boxes with a black background. There are pictures, but not many when it comes to the aliens. Humans and weapons yes, which I like, but not many to show the new xenomorphs. The book does read easily and has hypertext, so I love that. The campaign is good, but I don't like the layout as I feel some of the style hides the lead and makes it a bit hard to run on the fly. But, I do appreciate it. I’d like the pregens to be separate, but they do exist in the book. Not as character sheets, but as blocks that you can print out. It’s good, but I would like a few improvements. 4.5/5

Summary- If you want to run a military campaign for the Alien RPG, this is the book you need. Heck, it comes with a military campaign so you don't event need to do hard work as a GM for the first 8 sessions! It’s not perfect; I want more player options and some changes to layout and writing. But these are small complaints compared to the parts of the book that are well done. 93%

Colonial Marines Operations Manual

The Colonial Marines Operations Manual is the first major sourcebook for the Alien roleplaying game and focuses on the organization that is probably the most interesting for many players: the Colonial Marines. The book starts with background information on the history and organization of the military.

Of course, a chapter on character creation is not to be missed in this book, and here the focus is on the so-called Military Occupational Specialties (MOS), which allow for additional differentiation of Marine characters. There are also random events for the characters' backstory, as well as a few new talents. In this respect, the character material is limited, but this is not a disadvantage from my perspective.

More tangible help is provided to the player characters in the form of a detailed equipment chapter, which presents an arsenal of vehicles, ranging from the classic APC to interceptors, artillery guns and spaceships, in addition to various weapons and armor for both the Colonial Marines and other organizations.

The fact that only about 100 of the 300+ pages are devoted to this background, with the rest focusing on the included campaign, clearly indicates that this volume is intended to be less a sourcebook than a comprehensive campaign book. To that end, the book first introduces a Marine unit to which the player characters belong. Of course, the unit's frigate as their headquarters is part of the description. The chapter also explains typical missions and thus provides hooks for designing your own missions and incorporating them into the campaign as regular intermediate missions. The chapter also has insightful advice on how to deal with the issue of non-player characters, especially in terms of ranks and combat, and provides helpful information here.

As a preparation for the campaign, first, some new star systems are introduced, which play a role in the campaign, but also expand the overall background. In particular, a human-like alien species from the Arcturus system is presented. The game mother gets insights into various secret military projects that also make their appearance in the campaign. The introduction of the larger setting follows, namely the border war that breaks out between the UAC and the UPP (which apparently involves additional parties). In fact, this border war is already touched upon in Destroyer of Worlds, and here the plot continues accordingly. The actual campaign includes seven missions described in detail, which lead the players further and further into the war, but above all into a sinister conspiracy. Of course, the Xenomorphs are involved, but other complications play important roles as well. It's up to the player characters' choices, on which side they position themselves and how much they reveal the conspiracy.

I found the first background chapters with timeline and various military operations confusing to read, as many abbreviations are used and the compact information overwhelms with a great deal of trivia so that the larger context is sometimes lost. Still, it helps to get an impression of how the Colonial Marines fit into the world of Alien, what their role is, and who their opponents are. The character chapter provides some small additions instead of essential material. While this start seemed somewhat slow, the campaign could fully convince me quickly. Of course, the campaign uses aspects that you would inevitably expect: conspiracies and corporate intrigue, horrific alien lifeforms and the constant fight for survival. However, these are aspects that are so deeply rooted in the basic setting of Alien that anything else would have been surprising. Here, in my view, both typical elements of the Alien universe like the Xenomorphs and also the Engineers and the corporations are used, but combined with new elements like the border war with the UPP. The book even reflects the original Alien setting in the 80s, as e.g. the Cold War is reflected here in the confrontation of the American Colonial Marines against the Union of Progressive States. Nevertheless, the book refrains from painting this conflict in black and white. The campaign should be very challenging for the player characters and also requires some preparation by the game mother to cover the various plot threads and options. The comprehensive maps of the facilities, bases and starships help to illustrate the setting. Besides, the book offers the fitting layout of the core rulebook, supported by impressive illustrations. If you want to play Alien with a Colonial Marine campaign, you will probably need this book less because of the rules and background material, but you will be provided with a comprehensive and challenging campaign that should captivate you for many sessions (but might also cost one or two player characters).

(Björn Lippold)

What a fabulous expansion for an already groundbreaking game!

Take note, other creators, this is how first rate games are created, and how they're kept interesting

The Colonial Marines Operations Manual gives you everything you need to play in the feel and worlds of Aliens and as a Colonial Space Marine.

This lore rich book of simple augments to existing rules expands upon the Alien RPG corebook with the ease of a well-written sequel. It gives you gear choices from the film, comics, Kenner action figure line, and new creations. It explains The origin of the Corps and similar organizations in other factions. It provides you with a simple process for character creation and gives you everything you need to fly.

It perfectly expands the meta-narrative of the game which has consistently been broadened and expanded through the core book, two adventure supplements, and now this indispensable tome.

Provided are all the materials you need to play except the base rules. Including new characters and situations as well as suggestions for expanding your world.

A meta arc of interconnected, fully conceived and well-fleshed out scenarios are ready to go.

this book is worth every penny . I cannot wait to see where Gaska and co take us next. Having been on board since the core book launched, I hope this ride never ends.

Another absolute gem from Andrew E. Gaska. Utterly delighted with it, as I'm sure my friends will be